We visited Pioneertown back in 2021 on of our first passes through the area as full time rvers. This time we hiked at the Preserve. The 25,500-acre Pioneertown Mountains Preserve is an interesting area noted for granite rock formations, volcanic mesas, and riparian canyons There are great hiking options and we did a challenging Sawtooth Loop as our last hoorah to the Joshua Tree area.
In 2006, the vast majority of the Joshua trees, pinyon pines and junipers at Pioneertown Mountains Preserve were killed in a 70,000-acre lightning-caused fire of unprecedented magnitude. Today, much of the Preserve is going through natural vegetation succession. Some scientists predict that fire succession and climate change will favor scrub oak and Joshua tree plant communities that may replace the pinyon forests.
Our loop was a lot of up and down on mostly granite-y surface though there were some stream crossings and sand sections as well. I brought hiking poles and was glad I did because that decomposed granite can be “slippery” and some of the inclines were pretty steep. The rock formations steal the show on this loop and my neck was sore from constantly craning to see everything.
I definitely recommend checking this area out!
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